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Press Release

ADL Welcomes Guilty Verdict in Neo-Nazi Case

Chicago, IL, January 6, 2011 … The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) hailed the conviction of a well-known neo-Nazi for soliciting violence on the Internet.

A federal jury in Chicago convicted neo-Nazi Bill White of using his Web site to encourage violence against the foreman from an earlier Chicago jury trial in which white supremacist Matt Hale was found guilty of soliciting the murder of a federal judge in 2003.

The Chicago jury in this case got it right. Bill White crossed the line when he specifically targeted a jury foreman from an earlier case in which a fellow white supremacist was found guilty of soliciting the murder of a federal judge. Publishing the foreman's addresses, phone numbers and other personal information on the Internet cannot be considered simply an exercise of free speech, especially when it led to the foreman receiving hate-filled text and phone messages.

The Internet is a powerful communications tool, but it can also be a weapon. Because haters sitting at their home computers have the ability to inspire others to take action in a matter of minutes, anywhere in the world, they can pose a real threat. White is just one recent example of why we must be vigilant against this threat.

Law enforcement and the U.S. Attorney's office deserve praise for building a strong case against White.

ADL has been monitoring Bill White for a number of years and has reported on his violent rhetoric and postings against Jews, blacks and others he perceived as "enemies" on his Web sites.

At the time of his trial, White was already serving a two-and-a-half-year sentence for a 2009 conviction in a separate Internet threat case. In 2005, White received national attention as the media spokesman for the National Socialist Movement, the country's largest neo-Nazi group. White left that group in 2006 and went on to found a Virginia-based neo-Nazi group, the American National Socialist Workers Party, which is now defunct.

White's guilty verdict comes on the heels of the conviction of another white supremacist, Hal Turner, for making Internet death threats against federal judges in Chicago.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.